


yachi hitoka's guide to acquired tastes

by charlie_p



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Study, Coming of Age, F/F, Gay Panic, Practice Kissing, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29030922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlie_p/pseuds/charlie_p
Summary: Yachi keeps a running list of everyone she's ever kissed.Kiyoko Shimizu confesses to her that she's never kissed anyone. Hitoka is so shocked at this revelation that she can't help but blurt, "You can practice with me if you want, Shimizu-senpai! I've kissed someone before!"She then promptly thrusts her head under the bathwater and screams. But it's underwater, so the only thing that happens is a sort of muffled splash and a lot of bubbles.
Relationships: Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yachi Hitoka/Yonezawa Maiko
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	yachi hitoka's guide to acquired tastes

**Author's Note:**

> this is an ode to the kind of stuff that occurs to me mid make-out.   
> also an ode to That One Girl who makes you realize you are most certainly not heterosexual.  
> yachi/maiko is such a good rarepair so i had to include it.

Hitoka Yachi is 15 when she has her first kiss. A letter shows up in her shoe locker from a boy in class 2, a first-year like her, to Please meet him at lunchtime behind the auditorium, Yachi-san. She obliges, plays with her hairband nervous the entire way. She's seen this pattern before, but rarely directed at her. It could be a joke, or a prank, or a setup to kidnap or rob her or force her to do homework for him for the rest of the year. But she goes, because those are all Unhelpful Thoughts. He's probably just confessing.

Still, when the confession comes, red-faced and stuttering, a blurted "Yachi-san, would you please go on a date with me?" she's so thrilled not to be kidnapped that she barks a reflexive "Sure!" 

Then he gets even redder somehow and grabs her face and leans in and she freezes and it feels like smushing her face up against warm, skin-textured cardboard. He pulls away and she needs to Get Out Of There, so she squeaks out that actually she forgot she's busy then, so she can't go on a date, sorry, goodbye. Turns and runs to hide by the vending machines. 

That night she stares at the ceiling and touches her lips where he kissed her. Why do people get so excited about kissing, she wonders. It sort of sucks.

Hitoka Yachi thinks she might understand the appeal of kissing, actually, when Kiyoko Shimizu walks up to her in the hallway and grasps her hands, and oh god her skin is so smooth, she is literally the most gorgeous person Hitoka has ever seen and she wants to smush her face against Kiyoko's and never stop staring at her beauty mark and her glossy black hair. So she joins the volleyball club. 

Hitoka Yachi is 16 when she has her second kiss (but she prefers to think of it as her First Kiss that Counts, thank you very much). Kiyoko Shimizu confesses to her that she's never kissed anyone. Hitoka is so shocked at this revelation that she can't help but blurt, "You can practice with me if you want, Shimizu-senpai! I've kissed someone before!" 

She then promptly thrusts her head under the bathwater and screams. But it's underwater, so the only thing that happens is a sort of muffled splash and a lot of bubbles. Hitoka holds her breath for as long as she can manage and hopes that Kiyoko will disappear, but she's still lounging in the tub when Hitoka resurfaces with a splutter. 

"I wouldn't mind that, Hitoka," says Kiyoko before Hitoka can begin apologizing profusely. Oh. _Oh_ . What the _fuck_. 

"I- okay!" squeaks Hitoka in return. Tries to shove her waterlogged bangs out of her eyes. "When do you want to- uhh…" 

Kiyoko steps out of the bath. Oh god oh god oh god oh god she's so beautiful. Her legs are so long and muscular and her back is still dripping wet and her boobs are like, perfect. Hitoka wishes she had boobs like Kiyoko's. Maybe she shouldn't be thinking about her senior's boobs when Kiyoko is staring down at her. Kiyoko wraps a towel around her hair and then around her body and sits down cross-legged on the ledge where Yachi is clinging desperately. 

"If you get out we can do it right now," says Kiyoko. 

Yachi launches herself out of the bath at near terminal velocity and wraps a towel around her body, ignoring her hair. Sits down in front of Kiyoko so quickly she almost slips on the slick tile. Kiyoko grabs her arm to steady her. Oh man. They're actually doing this. Oh no, Yachi realizes, she's supposed to be doing something. Instead she's just been staring vacantly at Kiyoko's perfect lips. She's the teacher here. What is there to teach? Does she know _anything_ about properly kissing? 

Deep breaths, she decides. She's not going to let Kiyoko down. Kiyoko is still waiting expectantly with that calm smile. What would _she_ want out of a kiss, Hitoka thinks. Maybe she'd want the guy to cup her cheek, like this. Hitoka reaches out and brushes her thumb lightly across Kiyoko's cheekbone. 

"I'd brush your hair away if… uh… it wasn't up. Yeah?" 

Kiyoko nods calmly. Her skin is so soft. Hitoka mimics the motion of brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. 

"Close your eyes," she instructs next. She doesn't think she's been this sweaty ever in her life. Oh god, what if her breath stinks. What if Kiyoko-san thinks she's sweaty and gross and tells everyone she's a bad kisser and she gets kicked out of the volleyball club by Tanaka and Nishinoya because she kissed Kiyoko-san, and it was bad. 

Kiyoko is still waiting with her eyes closed as Hitoka scoots her way closer, close enough to feel Kiyoko's shallow exhales against her cheek, to watch her chest rise and fall lightly. Hitoka doesn't think she's ever seen anything as beautiful as this, so she tries to save a mental snapshot so she can maybe draw it later. _Do it,_ Hitoka's mind chants. _Do it do it do it._ Kiyoko is waiting. Hitoka leans in.

Kiyoko's lips are a lot softer than that boy's. Maybe it's because her skin is so soft, too, so everything that Hitoka is touching is just very soft. Hitoka doesn't want to stop kissing Kiyoko, so she tilts her head a little. Kiyoko opens her mouth. Wait, you can _do_ that? Hitoka opens her mouth a little too, sliding her hand down to cup the back of Kiyoko's neck, which is warm and still damp from the bath. It registers belatedly to Hitoka that she's kissing _Kiyoko Shimizu_ , which forces a little gasp out of her. Kiyoko pulls away and blinks. 

"Is everything alright?" Kiyoko asks, voice even. Hitoka realizes she's still cupping the back of Kiyoko's neck and drops her hand. 

"Yeah," Hitoka answers. "How- was that good?" 

Kiyoko offers her a sleepy grin and nods. "I think I might need some more practice, though," she says after a moment. Hitoka almost cries. 

Kiyoko and Hitoka kiss a lot after that. But nothing more, no coy invitations to a sleepover, nothing more aggressive than a hand palming Hitoka's breast through her button-down. At Kiyoko's graduation, she comes up to Hitoka and clasps her hands like they're in the hallway all over again, and tells her that she's been a good friend. The word tastes sour to Hitoka. _Friend._

She and Kiyoko don't see each other too often after that, until Kiyoko gets married in the fall a few years later. Hitoka wonders idly if Tanaka knows about her and Kiyoko. But that's Kiyoko's story to tell, not Hitoka's. 

There were a lot of kisses with Kiyoko, so Hitoka loses count of the actual number of kisses by the time she kisses anyone again. 

So she just decides to remember it this way: Hitoka Yachi is 18 when she kisses her third person. An away tournament. She sits on a bench beside their hotel and Maiko, the libero from Niiyama First, plops down beside her. Maiko is very pretty. Hitoka had said as much after Maiko body-slammed her and apologized profusely in one of the gymnasium hallways. Maiko had flushed and asked if Hitoka wanted her number, if she was, _you know._ Hitoka had nodded and almost thrown her phone at Maiko before sprinting back to the Karasuno game with a stupid grin. 

"It's too cold to be sitting outside like this," grumbles Maiko. 

In a burst of boldness, Hitoka sidles up next to her and presses their thighs together. She can't think of anything smooth to say, though, so she just stares straight ahead and mumbles something about body heat. A slow grin spreads across Maiko's face when Hitoka turns to look, gloved pinky finger nudging Maiko's bare one. 

"You know what would be really hot," begins Maiko, turning to face Hitoka. Hand creeping to rest on Hitoka's hip. 

"What," breathes Hitoka. She's close enough to see how flushed Maiko is, nose burning red. 

"If we made out," says Maiko, leaning in.

Hitoka closes her eyes and squeezes Maiko's wrist against her hip and shifts to throw an arm around Maiko's neck, which makes a noise like crinkling paper because of her obnoxiously large athletic coat. Maiko's lips and her nose and her icy fingers are all painfully cold, but it's alright because the inside of her mouth is decidedly not cold. She's a lot more aggressive of a kisser than Kiyoko was, Hitoka realizes. Her tongue probes hard and deep and she pauses to bite Hitoka's lower lip every few minutes, which makes Hitoka's flush deepen and breathing shallow.

Maiko's lips are definitely warm now. Her hands are, too: they had pressed up cold and angry on Hitoka's sides, but now they rub little burning circles under her sweater. 

Hitoka almost bites Maiko's tongue off when she hears an icy crunch off to her left. It's Kageyama. Hitoka lets out a yelp and launches herself across the bench. Maiko is frozen beside her. Kageyama is also frozen. He has one earbud out and running clothes on. It's 1 in the goddamn morning, Kageyama, she thinks. 1 in the goddamn morning and freezing outside. 

Kageyama moves his mouth like a dying fish. "I'm sorry, Yachi-san!" he yelps terrified after a minute, twitching in an awkward bow. "Your secret is safe with me!" Glances over at Maiko before jogging away. 

Hitoka turns to look at Maiko, who can't seem to decide if she's laughing or ready to kill Kageyama. Hitoka buries her hands in her hair and groans. 

"I'm sorry," she says. "I should have remembered that he… does that." 

Maiko shrugs. "It's whatever," she responds. "Most of my team knows about me anyways. Also, I probably need to head to sleep. We have a game tomorrow." 

Hitoka nods, still staring at the ground. 

"Text me?" asks Maiko after she gets up, crunches a little ways over the frozen grass. 

Hitoka nods again.

She pushes quietly back into the hotel lobby. Begins to pad up the stairs to her room, but she hears a muffled thud and a scuffle down the hall. A low grunt that sounds like Tsukishima. It's coming from the corridor to her left, so she peers quietly around the corner. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are backed against the wall, hands fisted in each others' shirts. Oh _shit_ , are they fighting again? Hitoka had been under the impression that they were getting along well, but a rift like this between the team captain and their most crucial middle blocker- oh. _Oh_. 

Tsukishima has thrown an arm around the back of Yamaguchi's neck and is now aggressively gnawing at his face. (Does Yamaguchi actually _like_ that? Hitoka makes a point to ask him later). Hitoka is _not_ supposed to be seeing this. Or hearing it, Jesus Christ. They're loud. She isn't sure how they expected to stay hidden. She moves to shuffle across the hall to her room, but her slipper catches and makes a loud slap against the floor. Tsukishima's eyes dart up to meet hers in the blue-tinted darkness. Now Hitoka is frozen. Yamaguchi peels himself away and turns to look at her too. They stare for a moment. 

"Sorry," she stage-whispers after a moment. Gestures down the hall. "I won't say anything. Sorry. Sorry. Oh my god."

Tsukishima blinks at her. She runs.

Hitoka Yachi is 20 years old when she kisses her fourth (or maybe fifth, she was _really_ drunk) person. Her friend from design school keeps raving about some bar in ni-chome. Then, Tsukishima visits Tokyo for a few days. He's obligated to go, Hitoka declares. Besides Yamaguchi, who is unavailable, he's her only other gay friend, so he has to go with her. Lesbians have it tough in Japan, she tells him. It's only fair. Tsukishima concedes on the condition that she buy him a kahlua and milk once they're inside. Hitoka grins.

She wakes up the next morning with Tsukishima sprawled across her couch and a Very Attractive Woman halfway on top of her. Hitoka fumbles blindly for her phone and looks desperately through her contacts- anyone added recently? Yes. Thank God. Oh, and Drunk Tsukishima left her a note on the bedside table. His handwriting is awful. "You brought her back because she was too drunk to get home. I don't think you slept with her. She just kept saying she wanted someone to cuddle."

So maybe this isn't the new girl in her contacts. The woman stretches lazily across Hitoka's stomach. Rolls onto her side to blink up at Hitoka. 

"Who the fuck are you," the woman asks. 

"I think I brought you home last night because my friend was afraid you might get… uh… taken advantage of. I don't think we did anything, if you're worried about that." 

The woman stares blankly at Hitoka. "Oh," she says after a moment, lazy grin spreading across her face. "I'm definitely not _worried_ about that."

Kissing, Hitoka decides finally, warm and heavy in the comfort of her own apartment, is absolutely worth getting excited about.

**Author's Note:**

> not a direct inspiration, but i had just finished reading Carmen Maria Machado's Inventory when i wrote this. vaguely similar structure but hers is like 10000% better. 10/10 would recommend.  
> please please please comment/kudo/whatever if you liked this ! !  
> talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/gogurtenthusia1?s=20) if you are Over The Age Of 18.


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